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Moscow, Idaho

B ryan Kohberger is flown three hundred miles south to Boise and booked into the Ada County jail.

There is the inevitable media fanfare around his trip.

Mike Pattinson considers this to be almost a literal weight off the minds of people in Moscow. Many of them might have wanted the trial held locally for emotional reasons—but no one liked the idea of Kohberger sitting underground, virtually beneath them.

It emerges that his exit is barely a day too soon.

On October 3, it’s reported that the Latah County jail might finally be closed because it does not meet code regulations.

A new fire marshal has arrived in town, looked over the facility, and said that the fire sprinklers and electrical systems don’t meet standards and the doors are too small.

Evan Ellis covers the story. He reports that rebuilding the jail could cost up to fourteen million dollars, minus the cost of the land.

If city commissioners decide it’s too expensive, Moscow’s criminals might need to be housed in Lewiston instead.

And the move could happen in just two weeks.

“Thank the Lord Kohberger is not in there,” Evan says, imagining the stink there would have been.

Being the cynical journalist that he is, he considers the timing—the election for sheriff is barely a month away—and thinks that it might be fortuitous for James Fry’s campaign because the jail’s failure to meet code regulations happened on his opponent’s watch.

“Is [the new fire marshal] a Fry guy and trying to help him out or just a by-the-book guy and it’s just coincidence?” Evan asks.

“I have no idea,” he says with a laugh.